More by Matier & Ross

“He’s getting very sentimental in his mature years,” said Brown’s cousin and former San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Brown, who recalls visiting the mansion in the 1960s when it didn’t even have a shower.

Jerry Brown was already college-bound by the time his family moved into the house at 16th and H streets, but he was very much determined to leave it as a legacy for future governors.

But the 15-bedroom, seven-bathroom home — which for decades has primarily served as a state museum — still needs some new drapes and lots of furnishings.

The Governor’s Residence Foundation, which has been paying for Brown’s $3,000-a-month Sacramento loft, and the protocol committee that raised heavily for his 2011 inaugural are helping foot the bill.

The tax-exempt, nonprofit Residence Foundation, whose latest IRS report shows it raised $384,707 between 2009 and 2013, is not required to disclose its donors. However, just last month the California State Protocol Foundation raised $155,000 from the California Chamber of Commerce’s Political Action Committee, Disney Worldwide, Farmers Insurance, USAA Insurance and the California Association of Health Facilities, according to statements on file with the secretary of state.

“I do know they need a new TV, because the one on the first floor was from the 1960s and had rabbit ears,” Department of Finance Deputy Director H.D. Palmer said.

Photo: Associated Press

A 1980 file photo of former California governors Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, right, and his son Jerry Brown.

A 1980 file photo of former California governors Edmund G. "Pat"...

Incidentally, the governor and his wife, Anne Gust Brown, made a point of waiting until their return from from the climate change conference in Paris to make their move from the loft to the mansion — so will they be reducing their carbon footprint?

“I think that’s the hope,” says state Department of General Services Deputy Director Brian Ferguson, whose office oversaw much of the renovation — including the installation of solar power, plus new heating, air conditioning and other elements intended to earn it LEED certification.

“It’s about as green as a 130-year-old building can be,” he said.

Photo: Jae C. Hong, Associated Press

California Attorney General Kamala Harris

California Attorney General Kamala Harris

In style: California Attorney General Kamala Harris appears to believe you have to live big to make it big in the world of politics.

A review of U.S. Senate candidate Harris’ campaign accounts by the Washington, D.C., political newspaper The Hill shows the Democratic hopeful has traveled far and wide — regularly charging thousand of dollars for upscale travel and hotel stays around the country, dating back to 2011.

In one example, Harris billed her campaign $2,482.70 for airfare to Washington to attend President Obama’s inauguration and campaign-related events. On that same trip, Harris stayed in D.C.’s upscale St. Regis hotel, at a nightly rate of $858.69.

According to The Hill, Harris’ filings since July 1, 2014, are less detailed, but the spending is similar: a stay at the St. Regis for $974.71, at the London NYC for $2,257.33, a United Airlines flight for $4,297.80, a $472.35 fee for limousines in New York and $180 for limos in Aspen.

Meanwhile, Harris’ staffers usually take less-expensive flights and stay in hotels for closer to $250 a night, sources told The Hill.

All the items were charged to Harris’ campaign account. No taxpayer money was used.

When asked about the top-flight travel, campaign spokesman Nathan Click said, “The attorney general makes appropriate use of campaign funds for political travel. Her rigorous travel schedule has allowed her to establish a strong national fundraising base while representing California at key gatherings.”

And certainly representing us in style.

By the numbers: No sooner did the Association of Bay Area Governments’ former financial chief, Clarke Howatt, plead guilty to embezzling $3.9 million in development fees than the money miraculously reappeared.

How did they get the money back so fast?

For starters, the feds seized $356,000 from 56-year-old Howatt’s various bank accounts.

They also sold the Oregon beach house Howatt bought with embezzled funds — which brought another $1.2 million. Then there was Howatt’s East Bay condo, which the feds seized and sold for $437,000.

And then Howatt’s dad, who reports show owns a golf course in central Oregon, kicked in an additional $1.5 million — in the hopes that it would reduce his son’s prison sentence.

ABAG is counting on another $1 million from insurance to cover the losses.

“When you add it all up, it’s more than enough to pay for everything,” said Brad Paul, ABAG’s deputy director — and that includes all the lawyers and auditors who were hired to untangle the sorry mess.

It was also enough to convince federal prosecutors to ask for a 3½-year prison sentence for Howatt rather than the 20-year maximum that he could have faced.

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or e-mail matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross